Author's POV:

Bangalore

As Adil entered the office, 'Pop' sounds of party poppers got echoed, followed by voices of congratulations.

"Congratulations, Adil; you did it again. We are all proud of you," Yousuf Rauf, CEO of Rauf Law Firm, congratulated him and patted his back in appreciation. Thanking everyone, he entered his cabin to resume his day.

As the days passed, everyone were busy with their routine at Raza Mansion.

At night, during dinner, Raza uncle entered the mansion tiredly and directly went to the dining area, knowing everyone would be present, but to his dismay, only his wife was present. Knowing Saniya's absence, he asked about Adil, but before he completes his sentence, Adil descended downstairs happily indicating some good news.

"I have good news to share with you all. I have been awarded Best Civil Lawyer by the Lawyer's Association Club, and they have invited me on next weekend to present the award."

Hearing the news from Adil, both his parents got emotional, engulfed him in a hug, and congratulated him for his success. A hint of pride was visible in both of their faces. Remembering something, Sumaiyya suddenly gets off the chair and went to the kitchen and returns with a box of dates.

"Congratulations, beta. We are all proud of you." Sumaiyya feeds Adil a date as a replacement for Sweet.

"Thanks, Ammi. Let's have dinner, then later we will tell everyone about it." Adil thanks, and looking at the time and dishes at the table, he guiltily apologises for the late arrival.

There is a rule in Raza Mansion that no matter how important work you have, at least one meal of the night needs to be eaten together until and unless you have any invites or are out of station.

After dinner, Adil informs his sisters and Sameer, about the award, and he gets equally excited when he finds out that even Sameer was selected as the best criminal lawyer in the club.

There is a joyful feeling when you know you and your friends are being awarded at the same time; similarly, both Adil and Sameer are feeling this way.

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Hyderabad

What happened, Bhabhi? Is everything fine?" Neha asked Afsha, as she looked worried and exhausted.

Afsha and Neha were conducting interviews for the shortlisted candidates in the studio, especially today, Afsha took leave and came to help Neha.

A few days ago, no one would have believed Afsha would be doing like this. For Afsha, her work is her worship, something she adopted from her parents; they taught her children the first principle of life is work, followed by other things, but may be due to pregnancy hormones and a slight likeness towards Neha, Afsha has bent her own principles and came to help her.

After finalising 3-4 candidates, Neha called it a day and turned towards Afsha, who was stressed and looking worried. Guilt enveloped her: 'How selfish of me to invite Bhabhi here; obviously she would be tired and stressed. Because of me she has taken a day off and now she got tired due to continuous work. I have to do something before her health worsens' Neha thought and quickly called Danish.

As per Danish's instructions, she boiled a glass of milk and slightly roasted the almonds with a pinch of salt-neither too much nor too little-and gave it to Afsha.

After completing the little snack session and seeing the somewhat relaxed state of Afsha, Neha asked about her worry state in a not so nosy tone as possible.

"Huh, nothing. I am just worrying about my Eid outfit," Afsha replied, which surprised Neha. After all, it was just a matter of outfit; surely pregnancy hormones can really make a person act out of character.

Making thin lips in order to control the laugh Neha asked, "You told me a few days ago that you had already bought it; then what happened?"

Remembering their earlier conversation, Neha asked Afsha
"Yeah, I ordered it online, and I received it yesterday."

"Oh, nice, then what is the issue?"

"Considering my size, I have ordered it in a size larger than usual and now that dress is exactly hugging my body as I am a mannequin. Eid is after 10 days; what if, in the meantime, my belly size bulges out more and the dress just gets worn out" Afsha answers worriedly, controlling the urge to laugh. Neha bites her inner cheek.

"This was your problem; did you forget I am a fashion designer? Just give me some time while you come and have some rest in the room," Neha assures Afsha and takes her to the room.

Giving a final glance towards the sleeping figure of Afsha, Neha returns back to the hall and calls Danish to describe the whole scenario.

"Nowadays she is very conscious of her body. I am trying to ease her worry, but still she is worrying a lot. Yesterday after wearing her Eid dress, her consciousness has increased more and just worrying about dresses, I don't know how to console her." Danish replied sad heartedly shrugging his shoulders downwards; he was also worried about the constant consciousness of Afsha and the lack of a solution to solve it.

"Don't worry, Bhai, let me figure it out." Neha replied, disconnecting the call, and went to her creativity room to figure out the solution to the problem.

After researching on the internet and fetching all the fabrics, laces, and other items, she got an idea. ' Bhai, please come to the studio directly after your office' sending a quick message to Danish, she started to work on the plan.

" Uff, finally." After working for 4-5 hours, Neha relaxed her shoulders and went out of the room to check on Afsha.

Making a cup of tea for Afsha and another cup of coffee for herself, Neha entered her room.

"Turn your camera to the backside and show me around." Hearing Afsha's voice, she accelerated her speed and sat in front of Afsha, handing her tea.

Sipping the tea, she was rejecting all the outfits that Adil was showing her through a video call. Adil, who got an invite to the awards night figured out that he didn't even have a proper party suit to wear. Being choosy in dresses, he was struggling to select an outfit to wear in the showroom. Having no option, he video called Afsha, as she was on leave today.

Curiosity lingered over Neha through her hands, she gestured 'what happened' to Afsha. Understanding the gesture, Afsha patted beside her to sit and placed her phone on Neha's side.

Getting conscious, Neha quickly adjusted her hijab. Muttering sorry, Afsha placed her phone such that only Neha could see the video, but the other person across, couldn't see Neha's face. Meanwhile, in this fraction of seconds, Adil got busy as the shop owner called him to discuss the latest collection, so he didn't see the addition of another member in the call.

" Few days back, my brother got selected as Best Civil Lawyer, the awards night is being hosted this weekend, so he is asking me to help in choosing the outfit. Can you please help me in selecting?" Afsha explained the situation and asked Neha's help in selecting.

After having a glance at all the suits and even the latest collection in the showroom, "Either the suits are too boring or too flashy, None are suitable to wear on Awards night," Neha whispered sadly to Afsha, so that she don't disappoint the other person on the call directly, even Afsha nodded her head seconding the thought.

' Ting Tong' the doorbell rang, Neha got up to open the door, while Afsha replied to Adil, the same thing as Neha voiced out, stating to visit another showroom she disconnected the call.

Hearing the voice of the guest, she went outside the hall. "Assalamualaikum" Afsha greeted Danish and sat beside him on a sofa.

" I will bring water and some snacks", Neha quickly got up giving some privacy to the couple.

" Waalaikumassalam, How are you both feeling now??" Danish wrapped his shoulder around Afsha and asked her after kissing her forehead and her tummy.

"Alhamdulillah, me and the baby both are feeling better," Afsha replied slowly placing her head on his chest and resting.

After a few minutes, they both relaxed in each other's embrace and sat normally beside each other. Neha also came outside, bringing three brown shoppers, and sat in front of the couple, dragging one of the chairs.

"What are these shoppers?" getting curious, Afsha asked.
"Oh, it's ready!" Danish, who had a slight idea of the things present, was surprised by the quick arrangement.

"Yes, Bhai, it's ready. Bhabhi, these are the gifts from my side to you both," Neha replied to both of them.

"Bhai, as you already know, this is your Eid outfit." Neha handed one of the bags to Danish, having grey coloured kurta pyjama embroidered with Chikankari work on kurta and plain cotton pyjamas.

Handing another bag to Afsha, "Bhabhi, actually, I have designed your Eid outfit before hand but as I got to know you have bought already, I didn't disclose about this and thought to gift you later. It is a saree and you can wear it, whenever you are interested. I have even added adjustable straps to your blouse so you can wear it anytime freely, even during your pregnancy." Neha answered honestly to Afsha.

Both of them opened their outfits curiously.

"It's perfect as described; thanks, Neha.", Danish liked his outfit very much as it looked very comfortable and yet elegant.

"It's very beautiful; I loved it. I will definitely wear this on Eid, and I am sorry, Neha; I didn't know you were designing my Eid outfit." After looking at the saree and its detailed lace work, along with the frills of her blouse, Afsha got mesmerised and apologised for flopping Neha's surprise.

"I am glad you both liked it, and it's fine, Bhabhi anyway; it was a surprise anyway, so how could you know it?" Neha replied happily as both loved her creations.

"And Bhabhi, there is one more thing for you. As you said, you are sceptical of your Eid dress. I have designed and stitched it for you." Neha handed another bag to Afsha, having a beige-coloured net poncho.

Seeing the confused face of Afsha, "Oh, this is the poncho; it can help you cover your belly, and I made sure to use the neutral colour fabric so that you can wear it on various dresses." Neha took out the poncho from the bag and made her wear it to show the purpose.

"It's beautiful"
"Did you make it now?"
Both Afsha and Danish replied Neha pointing out the poncho, which Afsha removed after checking herself in the mirror.

"Well yes. After having a talk with Bhai, I checked the fabrics present with me, and when I found this beige-coloured fabric net I got an idea of this poncho, so I quickly made it." Neha answered sheepishly, showing a gesture of 'nothing to worry about it'

"Thank you so much, Neha. It means a lot." Afsha got overwhelmed, she hugged Neha and started to cry.

Danish, who was watching the whole scenario, also felt grateful to have lovely people around him. Quickly controlling his emotions, he gently patted Afsha's back after her long hugging session with Neha.

(Danish's Kurta Pyjama)

(Afsha's Saree)

( Reference image for the Poncho as described by Neha)

After a few hours of talking, Danish and Afsha dropped Neha and returned to their flat.

At night, after dinner, Neha gave others their Eid outfits as well.
It was Neha's wish to design everyone's outfit for Eid, and Danish and Afsha were also added to the list.

As she wanted to gift something to Afsha, she already started to work on it . Later, when Danish learnt that Neha was designing outfits for Ali and Asif Uncle, he requested her to design his outfit as well.

The next day, as the sun tried to peep from the curtains in a room but was failing continuously due to the intrusion of those maroon curtains from the window. Neha got up from her beauty sleep and opened her windows and curtains to invite the sun to spread the warmth in her room.

After getting ready for a day, when Neha was descending downstairs, she got a call from Afsha. Suspecting the sudden call from her at 9:00 am, Neha quickly received the call to check the reason.

"Assalamualaikum Bhabhi, Is everything alright?" Neha asked Afsha worriedly after wishing.

"Waalaikumassalam Neha, yes, yes, everything is alright; actually, I needed some help." Afsha replied and hesitated asking for the help.

"Alhamdulillah. Oh ok, let me give the call to Ammi then......" Assuming Afsha needs help from her mother, she turned to her parents room.

"No, no, I actually need help from you, not from Aunty." Afsha quickly asked Neha, "From me?" Neha changed her direction again and went to her room to have a clear conversation.

"Yeah, can you make an outfit for my brother for the awards night? If you are not that busy?" Afsha quickly cleared up the confusion and asked the question.

"Huh"

"Even I can pay you for it as your first client in your boutique." Afsha reframed her sentence to avoid all the confusion and make sure Neha couldn't refuse the offer.

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Sorry for the long wait for the chapter, I was having some personal issues in my home. I will make sure from next time to update regularly.

I guess you guys understood that the character I envisioned for Afsha and Danish is none other than Ayeza khan and Danish Taimoor.......

Well for other characters I haven't thought about them, you guys can match the characters for others even for leads. I would be glad to hear your thoughts and imagination......

Coming back to the book, how are things going on so far?

Are you guys liking my book?

Are the chapters being too draggy or usual?

Please do let me know your reviews through comments and Don't forget to vote for the chapter.